Student Council President celebrates graduation, prepares to pass the torch to new team

After serving as the Charles Darwin University (CDU) Student Council President for two years, Shishtata Bhandari has graduated and is preparing to hand over the reins to the council's next leader.

Miss Bhandari studied a Bachelor of Information Technology and graduated in September. She is continuing to support the council throughout its election and transition period till this December ensuring the experiences, knowledge and resources are shared to the new Council members.

This year’s Student Council election is running from October 12-23.

Reflecting on her own experience as a student and a leader, Miss Bhandari said her best advice for those running for the upcoming election was to first consider their capacity to serve on this role and prepare themselves to commit proactively to advocate for student voices and needs.

"This two-year period has been challenging in terms of building visibility, relationships, internal structure and team commitment, but the results have been just as rewarding, and I would not have chosen anything else but this," she said.

Miss Bhandari said she has enjoyed working on a range of events and projects throughout her term alongside her Executive Team, Executive Officer and amazing staffs of Student Engagement team.  

She is incredibly proud of the work her team has done to support students’ physical, mental, social, academic and financial wellbeing through initiatives such as weekly breakfast events, wellbeing week activities, orientations, themed parties, food market and more.

She has high hopes for the Council’s future and said there is always more work to be done for students’ wellbeing and support.

She looked forward to welcoming representatives for online, Sydney and First Nations students through the dedicated ballots introduced in the upcoming election and is excited to see the initiatives that better reflect the needs and priorities of these cohorts.

Having spent one and half years as an Analyst in the ICT industry and recently transitioned into a new position as Support Officer at NEC Australia, Miss Bhandari is now looking forward to learning and taking on new challenges.

"There's so much to learn and do once you are out of university," she said.  

"I'm also hoping to have some time to myself to work on personal projects and hobbies after this."

She wished all candidates the very best in the upcoming election and looks forward to seeing the new team build on the foundations laid by the current CDUSC, continuing to make a meaningful difference for students and taking student representation even further across the CDU community.

More information about the CDU Student Council's activities and election updates can be found here.